Means for raising oil from wells



Maf. 5, 1929. y H. F. scRuBY 1,703,963

` MEANS Foa RAlsING "o1-L FRonwLL-ys` v Filed 'June 1. 1925 v -fzsheets-sheet Il MMU 'ak/u, INVENTO ATTORNEY.

Mar. 5, 1929. H, F, scRUBY 1,703,963

uEANs'FoR RAISING OIL FRQM WELLS* Filed June l, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Mar. 5, 1929.,

i HORACE sonner, or BEVERLY, ontrronnraf y f MEAis non saisine orLEnom.Winans.` l

Application ined June 1, 192,5.V serial' No. 34,243.'

The present invention relates to apparatus for lifting oil from Wells,ypartieularlydeep Wells, and has for its principalobject the provision ofsimple, dependable and efficient apparatus i'or continuously raising oilfrom such Wells. n t f f Another object ot 'the invention is to dispensewith tubing', suolrerrods, pump casings, ivorlliing barrels and otherrelatively ivorlri ing parts, particularly inasmuch as the silt carriedby the oil greatly multiplies the diiiiculties ot' raising` oil withdeep *Well pumps, and shortens the livesot such pumps,

JAnother robject of the invention'is to dispense with the cumbersomeequipment necessary for reciprocating" long strings" of rods, and toreduce triction'a'nd other power losses incident to the operation ofsubmerged reciprocal pumps. n

Another.v objectof the invention is to pro vide oil raising means whichWillnot abrade the Well casing,` and Which is not itseltt readilyvvorn'or abraded by sand.

Another object of theinvention is to provide an oil raising apparatus,which in the presence of oil and iree Water, may be `caused to raise theoil in preference to the livater.,

Another and important object ol' the yinvention Ais to provide oilraising` apparatus which requires very little attention, and yin whichordinary repairs, yadjustments and changes which may be required to jbemade can be accomplished by one man' rather yth an an entire crew, suolias is required fin the case ot deep well punniing,v equipment.

'Still other objects and advantages ot my invention will agipearhereinafter and will be better understood because of the order ot theiroccurrence.

l have.illustrated my invention by the accompanying drawings, in whichyligure l is avie'iv in vertical section oi th upper portion ot a well,showing my invention applied thereto. f f f` Figure 2 is a view insection of the vlower part of said Well.

Figure 3 is a View in section seen on a line 3-3 ot Fig-2. Y, t n

Figuree is a vertical section', on a larger scale, oit the specialcasing head shown in Fig. l. t f t `ligure 5 is viexvjin section, on thesame scale as Fig. l, seen on a line 54-5 ot t looking in the directionindicated loy the arrows. i l y Figure 6 is a plan view of the casinghead.

In carrying out4 my-invention Ifernploy an endless belt l0, ofsuliicient length to reach from above ground to fpoints'below normalliuid'level of a well. The belt maybe oi' anysuitable vmaterial,,shapeand construeH tion, and for all practical intents andy pui said belt maybe, and

lposes of the invention should preferably be, non-hygroscopio. In otherivo'rds, the holt may be o'lila-bric, metal or any other substantiallysolid material;` tiuid absorbing; `material being necessarily ot lowtensile strength and apt tobe subject tok suoli elongation at somepoints that contained fluid would be Wrungthereiforni before reachingthe surface. Another lin'iportantconsideration is that thebelt `berelatively `Wide, inasmuchas aivide and comparatively thin belt presentsmore exposedsurface for each pound 'ot material contained. For y'manypractical reasonsa closely Wovenabrie heitseems best suited7 the fabricbeing selected` because of yits strength and vflexibility combined withcomparatively light Weight, although a iieiribley steel belt may beused.v

y lt'pis ivell known fact "that erudeovil'will adhere to almost any kindof a surface'tor a usually encountered will adhere in a deep yhlmon'polished steel as Well as fabric, and therefore., fabric is notvtheonly material which maybe en'iployed. i

[t casing; head ll is providcdwvith a bottoni iangrel, whereby itissecinedv to the' top of the ca` 'n n-r. yThe casing may be carried toany suitable elevation above theground togive incr assed head. Thecasing; head is provided vwith a rear removable platelet' havingbearings and 1S respectively. Side Wall l ot the casing' carries similarbearings, such Aas 18. lVithin the casing there is housed a drive`r`lon` time before draining oil, and `it is this phenomenonthat I takeadvantage effin 'carrying out my invention.` The crude oil pulley 1:9and anidler pulley 20.* `The drive pulleyis driven/by a power shaft 2l.`which runs through bearing l5 and terniinates rin a correspondingbearing,v i8. The' idler pulley is revolubly mounted on an oscillatableshaft which is trunnioned at one end in bearing' 16; the other end beingtrunnioned in a corresponding one of the bearingsl. Theplate covers anopening 2.3,large enough for both pulleys to be drawn through togetherwith the shafts. The ends Q4, :24,fol'theshatt 2:2 are turned toysmaller diameter than the center of the shaft and are eccentricthereto. To the outer protru'dingkpart ofone end, van

arm 25 is keyed, as at LG. Said arm is provided with a tension spring 27which is at tac-hed to the plate, as at 27. Said spring tendscontinually to turn the shaft, with the result that the idler pulley isheld yieldably adjacent or against the drive pulley. he belt is runbetween the two pulleys, as shown, and thereby the space between the twopulleys is just equal to the thickness of the belt at all times. rIhespring is not strong enough to compress or wring the belt, and in factthe type of belt best suited for the purpose is not capable of-beingcompressed to any noticeable degree.

Below the drive pulley, and slightly to one side thereof, there isprovided a roller 30 arrangedV to direct the down-traveling side of thebelt so that it is close to the rlp-going side. In fact the. respectiveparts of the belt should be spaced within the casing so that they do nottend to touch each other or adjacent portions of the casing.

Below the pulleys there are arranged a plurality of arcuate troughs,such as 3l, 32, and 34, respectively. Troughs 31 and 32 are uppermostand arranged one on each side of the belt and quite close thereto. Thespace existing between the belt and a trough should be slightly greaterthan the depth of the oil film Carried by the belt. 'Iroughs 3B and 34are below the other troughs and are spaced apart a greater distance. Thelower troughs are provided for the purpose of catching the oil which mayoverflow the upper troughs and follow the under surfaces thereof beforefalling. In the embodiment illustrated said troughs are shown as beingan integral part of the rear wall of the casing head. That portion ofeach upper trough which is adjacent the beltis disposed at an acuteangle to the belt so that oil reachingthe lower surfacbs of said troughswill adhere and fiow away fromrthe belt.

The troughs are inclined forwardly and downwardly and extend below thepulleys and forwardly into an arched housing 35, which is a continuationof the casing head. Said housing is provided with a lower wall 36providing an enclosed fluidv collecting space 36', which is drained by aflow line pipe 37 through an opening 38. T he troughs are so arrangedthat oil flowing from the troughs will fall directly into the pipe, apartitioning wall 39 being provided to prevent the oil from flowing backdown the casing. At the top of the casing an outlet 40 is provided sothat gas, raised with the oil, may be drawn off through a pipe Zll.

In installing my improved pumping apparatus, the casing head is attachedto the casing with the endless belt arranged between the two pulleys, asshown. The lower end of the continuous belt is provided with a weightedpulley 43, which serves to keep the belt sufficiently straight. The beltis of suffiavesse?,

cient length to extend to points below the normal oil level, although itis a peculiar-ity of this apparatus that its capacity does not depend inany way on the depth of which it is submerged. In fact, if the lowerpart of the belt were submerged only a few inches, as much oil would beraised when it is submerged several feet'.

VAs to the operation ofthe apparatus, it will be apparent that clockwiserotation of the drive pulley will cause the belt to move in thedirection indicated by the arrows. The pulley maybe driven by a highspeed electric motor and the belt may be caused to travel at anyreasonable belt speed. As the upwardly traveling part of the belt risesfrom the oil it will carry with it a comparatively heavy film of theviscous fluid. The fluid is held to the belt quite entirely by adhesion.Such a flmof oil will adhere to a smooth surface for a long interval oftime. Even should the belt take an entire minute to travel from thebottom of the well to the top, the major portion of the fluid raisedfrom the surface of the oil would be carried to the top.

The comparatively broad belt has a large exposed surface and a usualfilm of oil on a belt traveling at not uncommonv belt speeds will raiseseveral hundred barrels of oil in twenty four hours. The belt willnormally travel quite freely in the well, the friction of moving partsis slight and therefore the energy required to drive the apparatus isvery little more than the actual foot pounds required to-lift the oil.Coarse sand or silt, and free water is not readily lifted by the belt,and the continued lubrication of the belt by the oil which it lifts willreduce weakening and abrasion of the belt to a practical minimum.

As the belt passes between the two spaced pulleys, the oil cannotfollow, and as a consequence it is displaced and drawn back by gravityinto the upper set of troughs. Any overflow is caught by the lowertroughs and eventually all the oil raised gravitates into the flow pipeopening. Should any part of the film of oil on the beltbe thicker thanthe clearance space 35, the excess oil will be brushed off by theadjacent edges of the upper set of troughs. Such oil will flowdownwardly and away from the belt and fall into the lower troughs fromwhence it will be carried away without again touching the belt. Thus thebelt is thoroughly cleansed of adhering oil without becoming abraded bycontact with the edges of the trough. y

The housingll serves as a casing head which completely encloses theupper end of the casing except for the small outlets 38 and 40.V Thusall gas rising in the well may be kept under pressure and caused to seekescape through the gas outlet 40. Accordingly, any oil flowing throughoutlet 37 has the was pressure of the well behind it to force it throughthe pipe and lift itto a storage tank or the like (not shown). Theenclosed mechanism Within the housing 11 acts as an eicient gasseparator, separating the gas and v oil and still keeping the gaspressure as high as desired. e

l/Vhile I have shown and described a specific apparatus for carrying outniy invention y closely between said pulleys, a pair o-upper troughsbelow said pulleys; one trough' to either sidel of the belt and each'having an edge closely disposed to said belt; said uppertrougliisxhaving under surfaces slopin away from said belt at an acuteangle, anc other troughs below said upper troughs; said other troughsspaced away from said belt a greater distance.

2. In combination With an oil Well having an upper open and A casing,y ahousing completely enclosing the upper end oi. said casing except for anupper gas outlet and a lower oil outlet, a pulley revoluble in saidhousing, an

endless belt running over said pulley" anddcpending into the Well to apoint below the fluid level thereof, means for causing the oil togravitate from said belt, andineans for conveying oil roin said ineensto saidv oil"v outlet.

HORACE F. sonner.A

